


Daisy Johnson and The Leader of The Resistance

by Skyson



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Canon Divergence, Daisy POV, Developing Relationship, F/M, Friendship/Love, Jeffrey POV, Mace x Daisy, The Framework
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-07
Updated: 2018-03-07
Packaged: 2019-03-28 01:55:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13893768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyson/pseuds/Skyson
Summary: What if Daisy had met the Jeffrey Mace of the Framework? What would she think of him? And what would he think of her?





	Daisy Johnson and The Leader of The Resistance

**Author's Note:**

> For Anonymous on Tumblr, who requested a handful of fun Mace x Daisy prompts and I chose to try my hand at this one. Hope you enjoy! And thanks for the fun ideas, Anon — I’ll probably end up writing a few of the others you requested, too. :)

She ducked behind one of the trucks as people began running out of the building, but she quickly realized that they weren’t a threat. Most of them were crying, holding onto one another, covered in dust; Daisy was amazed they’d survived the initial explosions. The building behind them shuddered with a loud groan, and they scattered, but luckily had the thought of mind to keep running _away_  from the falling rubble.

It was coming down, and she hadn’t yet seen anyone she recognized. She had a feeling May was inside, and who knows how many from the team. She’d lost sight of May almost as soon as they’d arrived at this ‘rehabilitation center’. She’d taken care of the Hydra goons that attacked her, but by the time they were dealt with, a jet had begun firing onto the building.

“Hey!” Daisy grabbed onto the nearest person — hell, it was just a kid. “You — holy crap what are they doing? — Hey, is there anyone else in there?”

“Yeah, yeah, they told us to get out!” The kid was shaking. “My friend, he’s still stuck, but they’re trying to save him — I wanted to stay but they told me,”

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Daisy quickly soothed. “Your friend will be okay, alright? I need you to go over there, beyond the fence line,” She pointed toward the wire fencing. “Go on, now!” Daisy urged him forward, and he nodded quickly and took off after the other kids, calling out to them to head for the fence.

Daisy turned back toward the building as a chunk from the far wall came crashing down to the ground. Hydra had blown it to shit and didn’t care that there were _kids_  inside — Daisy clenched her fists as her powers bubbled up in anger. She had to be careful, without her gauntlets.

As she bounded up the stairway, desperately trying to listen for voices, she managed to catch some shouting just as she passed one of the doorways. She skidded to a stop and retraced her steps, not hesitating as she turned down the hall.

“Coulson!” She shouted, squinting through the dust. She couldn’t be sure, but it had sounded a lot like Coulson.

More kids hurried by, and she quickly guided them toward the stairs that she’d just used, knowing they were safe escape routes for the time being.

“Get out of here!” She ordered them, one of them begging her to help others that were still trapped. She nodded without stopping, trying to pick out sounds of people over the noises of the collapsing building.

The building shook violently and she knew it was Jemma she heard screaming now, and she picked up the pace again, not even thinking as she bolted down to the end of the hall. The floor felt like it gave way a little, and she put her hand against the wall as she went with it, using the momentum to skid into the room where she’d heard the shouting.

She wasn’t sure what she expected, but what she saw in that room wasn’t it.

Jemma, standing with Ward, and Coulson, and _Trip_  — her throat caught as she gaped at him, but quickly her gaze was drawn toward where all of them were staring with equal looks of horror. They hadn’t even noticed her enter the room yet.

A giant support beam from the roof had caved in, creating a massive hole in the ceiling, and from the angle of it Daisy could guess it was about the only thing holding up what was left of the rest of the ceiling.

“What are you doing? We need to go!” Daisy shouted, and they all turned around at once, now gaping at her.

“Daisy?!” Coulson exclaimed, and then he swallowed, jerking his gaze back toward the pile of rubble. He held his hand out toward her, as if telling her to stay where she was, and she could see that his fingers were shaking.

What the hell was he doing, he wasn’t built for this — not here —

“Coulson — ”

“Help me!” He demanded, moving toward the pile of rock. Trip and Jemma immediately followed him, and Daisy hurried forward, stopping Jemma from getting too close.

“It’s too unstable!” Daisy warned, feeling the vibrations just before the room shook again.

“It’s coming down!” Trip warned, ready to push Coulson toward the door, but Jemma stared down at the rubble.

“No, it’s coming up.” She said.

They watched in amazement as the steel beam began to move, shifting up and taking the largest piece of concrete with it.

It was Mace — of course it was Mace, Daisy had heard some of the Hydra goons talking about The Patriot over the radio — but she was nonetheless surprised.

He cried out with the effort as he slowly but surely pushed the weight of the steel and concrete onto his shoulder, planting his feet beneath him. Daisy didn’t move for a second, once more amazed by the familiar and yet completely different version of someone she knew.

“Get him out!” Mace grunted, and just like that everyone moved at once; reaching to help pull a young boy out from immediate danger. Daisy hadn’t even realized he’d been there; Mace must’ve covered him when the ceiling fell in.

Once again, Daisy didn’t think too long before acting. As Coulson tugged the boy free, comforting him, Daisy dove forward, sliding against the broken floor to take the kid’s place.

“Daisy!” Jemma yelled, as Daisy squared her stance and put her hands up against the pylon as well.

“What the hell are you doing, get out of here!” Mace shouted, managing to look appalled even as he struggled against the weight on his shoulders.

“Nobody move!” Someone shouted from the back of the room, swinging a beam of light over them.

“Put that gun down!” Coulson yelled back, “We’re trying to save these kids!”

Daisy blinked through the dust falling into her eyes, and realized it was May pointing an automatic in their direction. Specifically, in her and Mace’s direction.

“Are you crazy?!” Ward yelled. “If you shoot them you’re going to bring this whole building down on our heads!”

May hesitated as she glanced between the boy struggling to get to his feet, and the two Inhumans in front of her.

“He’s a terrorist! And a thug!” She argued, focusing her sights more directly toward The Patriot.

“You see what Hydra is doing!” Daisy called out, drawing her attention. “They have _kids_  in here, May! Probably brainwashing them, torturing them, all because of something they _haven’t done_  or might not ever do! They bombed this place _knowing_  there are kids in here!”

She hesitated again, slightly lowering her weapon.

“Either shoot us, or help — but don’t just stand there!” Coulson shouted angrily. “Snap out of it, May!” He glanced around quickly. “Find something to prop up that beam!”

The others immediately got to work, ignoring the Hydra agent in the room. May lowered her weapon completely as she watched them, but Daisy got a barrage of dust in her eyes and had to squeeze them closed.

“This cabinet should hold!” Ward announced, and Daisy heard Mace disagree.

“Get out!” He ordered them all, and she shook her head and blinked rapidly, clearing the dust from her eyes as best she could.

“No!” Jemma argued. “We’re not going to leave you!”

Daisy grimaced as one of her feet slipped.

She and Jemma had come here for a reason. They were here to get their team home — and she refused to leave anyone behind.

“You all need to clear the area!” Daisy told them. “Follow the rest to the fence line! We can do this — but you need to go!”

To save herself, and save Mace, it was going to get even more messy.

“What are you — ” Mace grimaced briefly. “You need to go, too. Trust me.”

“Trust _me_  — I’m like you,” Daisy told him, “I’m an Inhuman. I can help you.”

He looked at her appraisingly, and nodded once, gritting his teeth together. She was amazed by the lack of recognition in his eyes, but more than that, the steel of them. He was fully prepared to die for these people; his own team, and he didn’t even realize who they really were.

“Daisy, _no_ ,” Coulson insisted, kneeling to get closer to them.

“Coulson,” Mace said, and Coulson reached out to touch his knee. Mace looked at him, something passing between them, and suddenly Daisy wondered if perhaps Mace did remember them after all. “Go.” He told him.

Coulson pressed his lips together and swallowed, knowing there would be no persuading The Patriot. He turned toward Daisy, and she shook her head slowly, offering him as much of a smile as she could.

The building shook again, and Mace shouted at them to go.

“I’ll see you on the flip-side, AC,” Daisy promised quietly, not quite sure if she would actually survive this herself. Even if she managed to keep the building from collapsing on herself and Mace, she was bound to injure herself without her gauntlets to protect her bones. She almost couldn’t keep looking him in the eyes as he lingered there a moment longer.

The ceiling groaned and collapsed further, forcing both Mace and Daisy to their knees as the pylon received even more weight on top of it.

“Go!” Mace yelled, and Coulson scrambled away, guiding the others out of the room. Jemma tried to fight against him but other parts of the room were beginning to collapse, and Daisy had to look away from her weeping friend. If she could just focus, she’ll be able to....

She opened her eyes, and found Mace looking back at her. For the first time, he looked terrified. She spread her fingers a little wider against the pylon, and swallowed down her own fear.

“Trust me,” She whispered, and he nodded slowly, the terror in his eyes abating.

She glanced over once more to make sure the room was empty, and realized that May was still there. Daisy knew immediately that May was pulling out, pulling free from the lie of the Framework, and she nodded her head once, urging her toward the door. May looked toward The Patriot, and returned that nod to him, her expression conflicted, before she turned and headed out after the rest of the team.

Daisy waited as long as she could, but soon enough the weight was too much even for Mace, and she silently prayed that May had made it out of the building. She gathered up all of her anger and disgust toward Hydra, toward Aida and Radcliffe, toward all the hell that she’d gone through in the real world, and pushed out with all of her might.

She tried to control the focus as best she could, pushing the building out and away from them, keeping Mace in the epicenter with her.

 

**———**

 

She opened her eyes to daylight, streaming through the heavy smog of dust. She was on her back, and the world was deathly silent.

She blinked slowly, hesitant to turn her head. What if she’d broken more bones than just her arms?

Someone slid over on their knees to her right, suddenly entering her line of sight. She flinched, and then cried out in pain. That cleared her senses some, though, and she realized that it was Mace.

“Holy shit! Come on, kid,” He touched her face and neck gingerly, probably trying to guess if she’d broken her neck. “We’ve got to get out of here before they start combing the rubble for bodies,”

He was covered head to toe in a thick grey dust — particles of building that was probably wreaking havoc on their lungs right now — but from what she could tell, he was okay.

He picked her up carefully in his arms, cradling her to his chest as he carried her out of the pit. There was nothing he could do otherwise, and he apologized with each step that made her wince in pain.

Encircling all around them was what was left of the building; what hadn’t been vibrated apart into tiny particles. He was halfway across the grounds when she realized.

“Wait,” She groaned, her voice gravelly and weak. “The serum, your — you won’t be able to carry me the whole way,”

“What are you talking about?” He wondered, his eyes focused on finding a car to take. “I don’t know what you just did, or how you did it, but you need to take it easy right now. Don’t worry about talking, I’ll get us back to base.”

“Home... we have to go home,” Daisy managed, as he carefully opened the back hatch of one of the Hydra SUV’s and laid her down in the trunk.

“I’m worried about your back...” He explained apologetically about her location, and she carefully shook her head at him. Laying down was fine with her right now. “Who are you?” He wondered, gently maneuvering her so she wouldn’t be anywhere near the door when he closed it.

“Daisy,” She half-smiled at him, in too much pain for any actual humor to be behind the expression. “Daisy Johnson.”

“Daisy Johnson.” He repeated softly. Then he looked at her deeply, and brushed her hair away from her face. “You saved my life. Trust me to save yours.”

That steely look was in his eyes again, and it was hard for her to see the same man here as the one she’d first met, back in the real world. She logically knew it was the same man, though; that this was a part of Mace, that he’d always had the heart of a hero — so she nodded slowly.

Then he was gone, and the hatch was closed, and the car was moving as fast as the driver dared, and Daisy blacked out again.

 

**———**

 

“Hold your fire! It’s me!”

Daisy awoke to shouting, but she didn’t dare move to try and see out of one of the windows. She couldn’t tell where they were by the light coming in to the car, but she heard multiple voices raised in alarm.

“You’re _alive_!”

“You made it!”

“Someone get Burrows and Ward! They just brought in a bunch of kids, check the infirmary!”

“Help me, she’s injured,” Mace was saying as he opened the back hatch.

“Who — who is that?” Another unfamiliar voice wondered as she once more found herself cradled in his arms.

“I do like this,” She drawled, fairly delirious from the amount of pain she was in. “Being carried around by you like it’s nothing,” She furrowed her brow, or at least she thought that she did. “But if you... if you call me k-kid ever again...”

“Got it,” He promised, his steps hurrying. “Not a kid. Just a woman with ageless grace.”

She laughed, and then whimpered.

“Stop it.” She told him, and he apologized sincerely, though she was able to see that his eyes were doing funny things. He looked pleased and extremely worried all at once.

“Director Mace!” Jemma’s voice sounded shocked, and like she’d been crying not long ago. “How — ”

“We need a bed, Dr. Simmons,” Mace interrupted her, his tone soft but intent; acknowledging her relief, but focused on the current issue at hand.

“Oh, what — ” She sucked in a sharp breath, and then her tone was pointed and direct. “What can you tell me?”

Daisy was hearing all of this, more or less, but she knew that if she opened her eyes for too long she would no doubt throw up all over the place. Everything felt dull, and she knew that was really bad. Either nerve endings had been pinched off, or her brain had blocked off her pain receptors out of self-preservation. Either way, it was bad.

“I don’t know. How long since you guys got here? I woke up in the middle of a crater, right next to Daisy. I don’t know what happened, but she’s — she’s a — ”

“I know it looks pretty bad,” Jemma eased, as they continued to push their way around people and try to find an empty area.

“It _is_  bad, Doc,” Mace stopped her attempt at consoling. “Far as I can tell she’s got bruises on every inch of her skin. She’s not moving on her own at all, other than slight gestures of her head. She keeps falling unconscious, and I don’t have the heart to keep waking her because I know she’s in a helluva lot of pain,”

“You’ve got her here, and that’s the important thing,” Jemma told him firmly, calming him down as he started getting a little panicky.

“I’ve lost too many men — Simmons, I’ve lost too many — I’m not about to let her die because she thought saving my life was worth it.”

“Are worth it,” Daisy managed.

“Daisy!” Jemma called out in relief. “Can you hear me? Can you tell me anything about your condition?” As Daisy attempted to answer, Jemma murmured about a bed, and she felt herself carefully being lowered down onto a mattress.

“Hear you when ‘m not asleep,” Daisy eventually answered.

“I thought we didn’t have anything but cots, left?” Jemma asked quietly, and an unknown voice replied,

“The previous patient heard about what she did, and practically forced me to take it. Wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

Jemma sighed, but didn’t argue. Daisy felt Mace’s hands on her forehead and cheek’s again, pushing her hair away from her face.

“You just relax, okay? You’re at SHIELD headquarters now, you’re safe. Dr. Simmons here will take good care of you.” Mace sounded like he was assuring himself as much as he was assuring her. “You saved a lot of kids, today. They can’t wait to thank you.”

“You did, too,” She replied, squinting her eyes open just a little. She could see that he was hovering next to her bed, but she was in too much pain to focus on his features. She guessed that Jemma was the other form standing opposite of him.

“Alright partner, you just relax. I’ll let your friends know that you’re here.” He promised, and then she was blacking out again, this time a much smoother and quicker process as Jemma injected medication into her arm.

 

**———**

 

“They’re saying you’re dead,” Ward noted as a group of them gathered together in front of the television in the main common area.

“I almost was,” Jeffrey admitted, carefully peeling off layers of his armor. Dust and small pieces of dirt and rock got everywhere, but it wasn’t like this place had been cleaned lately, anyway. He went toward the fridge and grimaced as he bent to retrieve a couple of ice packs from the freezer, holding them against his chest and side as he returned to the group.

“You been checked out, yet?” Burrows asked, eyeing his boss with concern, and Jeffrey shook his head, focused on the television.

“Just bruised. I’ll be fine.”

It was worse than just being dead — Hydra was portraying him as a murder; that _he’d_  caused that building to collapse, and that innocents had died inside.

“This is all wrong!” Coulson protested. “We have to do something about this. You helped _save_  everyone in there — Hydra was torturing those kids, and then fired on them themselves!”

“This is what Hydra does, you know this,” Jeffrey told the high school teacher tiredly. “They control the media and they control the minds of the people,”

“I always thought Bakshi was an asshole.” Coulson glowered. “People need to know the truth. People need to rise up and fight against Hydra, now more than ever! Hit them while they’re down!”

He was riling himself up, and quite a few of the others as well, and Jeffrey put his hand on his shoulder.

“You’re worried about your friend.” Jeffrey said sincerely. “I know. But we need to take a breather, regroup, and make a plan. Now, I agree that the public needs to know that now is their best opportunity to fight back against Hydra, but we need to figure out how to go about that.”

Coulson looked him in the eyes for a moment, and nodded, his energy deflating. Quite suddenly, he looked more exhausted now than ever.

“I thought we were going to lose you back there,” Coulson admitted, looking pleased toward Jeffrey, but then worriedly toward the doorway. “Now I might lose Daisy.”

“You won’t.” Jeffrey promised immediately, vehemently. “You have to stay focused on the mission, Phil. I think Daisy would want that.”

“She would.” Coulson admitted, and then looked at Jeffrey curiously. “Do you remember her, now? Remember me?”

Jeffrey hesitated, and averted his eyes. He didn’t want to disappoint them, but, he still didn’t really find any of them familiar.

“Maybe you do, and you don’t realize it yet.” May’s voice announced her presence in the doorway, and Jeffrey immediately tensed.

He was advancing toward her before he even realized it, and she let him shove her up against the wall, his forearm pressed against her throat threateningly.

“You had _children_  in there and you just — ” His snarling words were interrupted with Ward and Antoine grabbing his arms and wrenching him away from her.

“I didn’t know!” May defended herself, clearly apologetic, and anguished about it. “I didn’t know until the moment I went into that building after you. I was hell-bent on taking you out, Patriot, but I _swear_  I had no idea about the kids.”

God help him, but he believed her.

“Why did you say that about remembering?” Jeffrey questioned suspiciously. “Have you guys been doing something to these people? Messing with their minds?”

What if Dr. Simmons and Coulson and all the others were actually escapees from some Hydra facility, and they didn’t know it?

“No,” May denied, but then hesitated, and looked like she wasn’t sure what to think. “At least, not to my knowledge.”

“Seems there’s a lot you don’t know about your beloved employer,” Jeffrey said snidely.

“I’ve only ever done what I could to _save_  people,” May glared at him. “And then it became about _my_  survival, same as you! Except I was trapped on the inside.”

“So long that you started to drink the kool-aid,” Jeffrey replied.

“Alright, enough.” Coulson barked, startling them all into silence. Not for the first time, Jeffrey suspected he wasn’t merely a history teacher. “Is it true, that Hydra has a state of the art medical facility?” He demanded of May.

She nodded, giving him a questioning look.

“It’s Daisy,” Coulson clarified, and gestured in Jeffrey’s direction, “You know, the woman you had arrested and then almost shot as she and this guy here were trying to save our lives. She’s not good — at all. Simmons expects that parts of her spine may be broken, as well as her arms and every bone in her hands.”

May was silent for a long moment, but eventually admitted quietly,

“There might be something. But we should talk in front of your doctor.”

Jeffrey shared a look with Coulson, who nodded. Jeffrey sighed quietly, and then nodded as well.

“Alright.”

As he led the way, he noticed May glance down at the ice packs he held against his body, and quickly avert her eyes. If he didn’t know any better, he’d almost think that was shame crossing her features.

Well, she’d swung a damn sledgehammer at his head, so excuse him for wanting her to stew in it for a bit. He’d forgive her after she helped them save Daisy’s life, if she could.

 

**———**

 

Daisy drifted back into hazy awareness, sensing Jemma moving about as she worked. She spoke to Daisy as she did, simply talking about what she was doing, and even though she could’ve done for a topic to distract her from her broken bones, Jemma’s familiar voice comforted her.

“Agent May here has some info you might think is important.” Mace announced, and Daisy wanted to open her eyes to see her friends, but she didn’t quite have the energy to do so.

“There’s a machine. At HQ. The Doctor has a machine that expedites healing.” May informed them simply.

“What, so he can make sure the Inhumans he’s torturing don’t die too quickly under his _care_?” Mace grumbled.

“It’s reason for existing doesn’t matter right now, Jeffrey,” Coulson soothed. “Just the fact that it _does_. Do you know where it’s located, exactly? Hydra HQ is a huge building.”

“I know.” May answered. “I saw it just the other day. The Doctor needed it for... well, after your girl here threw Madame Hydra out the window.”

“Excuse me?” Ward gaped.

“Somehow I’m not surprised,” Mace said fondly, and Daisy slowly managed to open her eyes.

“It was... pretty badass,” She whispered, her ribs aching in protest.

“Daisy!” Coulson said, relieved, nearing her bedside opposite of Mace. He reached out as if to touch her hand, but Mace snatched his hand out over her body and grabbed Coulson’s wrist before he could. “Right...” Coulson murmured, looking apologetic briefly before relief overtook his features once more. Mace let him go, and they both looked down at her.

In fact, there was a whole group of people standing around her bed right now, looking at her.

“That bad, huh?” She figured, having to close her eyes again. She wanted to sit up, but she knew better. She could feel the makeshift splints on both of her arms and hands, and the tight wrappings around her torso. She couldn’t feel much of anything else, which told her that they had pumped her full of a lot of pain medication.

“Daisy...” Jemma was both relieved and disappointed in her, and the familiarity of that was soothing in its own way. “That was so stupid — without your gauntlets...”

“Don’t worry about the... the machine,” Daisy told them, noting how they all shared a look. “I won’t need it, because I know where the back door is.”

“And you’re sure it will destroy Hydra? Entirely?” Ward asked from the foot of her bed, his arms folded across his chest. “I’ve been briefed.” He said simply, at her facial expression.

“Radcliffe told me the location, before I escaped,” She explained.

“Radcliffe?” Jemma repeated. “And you’re sure it’s not a trap?”

“I’m sure.” Daisy confirmed. “Aida broke him just as she’s tried to break all of us. This wasn’t what he wanted the Framework to... to be. He wants it destroyed as much as we do.” She breathed slowly, trying to stay relaxed. That was exhausting, and she felt like she was drifting off again.

“Hey,” Mace’s voice soothed, “we still have to prepare some things. Get some rest. We’ll finish this talk later.”

She was already asleep before he finished his sentence.

 

**———**

 

Jeffrey eased carefully into the chair in his office. He’d been checked out by the doctor and other than some scrapes, bruised ribs, and building debris inside of his lungs, he was okay.

He was okay.

He lived through a lot of close calls over the years, but this one had by far been the closest. He’d been sure that was it, sure the moment he began to push that steel beam off of his back. He’d accepted it, too — at least he was saving that boy, and his little rag-tag team.

And then she’d appeared out of nowhere, a woman not as young as he’d first assumed, and not nearly as weak.

Hell, she was stronger than him.

She was an Inhuman, too. A powerful one, and not just because she’d blown a building apart a hundred feet around either side of them. Dr. Simmons had explained to him what Daisy’s powers were, how they could wreak havoc on her own body. Daisy had known that, and yet, she’d done it anyway. He’d never seen her before in his life and she’d literally shattered bones in her body to save him.

And she was still alive. She was a fighter, with the heart of a hero, and he admired that.

He also know knew that she was one of “them”, this group of people who believed the world they were living in wasn’t real. And that she planned on “leaving”.

He wanted her to stay. He wanted to walk right into Hydra’s front lobby and scour ever level of that building until he found the machine that would help her, and he wanted to help heal her. He wanted to be side-by-side with her again, fighting against Hydra, saving the Inhumans and all the other oppressed.

She was amazing.

“Sir — er, Jeffrey? You wanted to see me?” Dr. Simmons stood in his doorway, and he gestured her into the room.

“Forgive me, but now that I’ve sat down, I’m not sure I want to get up for the next hour or so.” He apologized, and she waved that away, not minding. She sat down across from him, eyeing him carefully.

“Your wounds may be superficial, but you’ve still overtaxed yourself. You should rest.” She advised him.

“I don’t have time. We’re breaking into Hydra Headquarters, tonight.” He announced, and she stared at him with wide eyes.

“That’s suicide.” She stated, and he shook his head.

“Ward’s credentials might still work, and they don’t know about May yet.” Jeffrey hadn’t seen much of her since their conversation about Hydra’s healing machine, but he’d been told she was helping out where she could with the injured. “We need to get that machine, and fix Daisy.”

“But as she said, it won’t matter,”

“It does matter!” Jeffrey interrupted, leaning forward in his chair. He grimaced in pain a little, but he pushed that to the side. “You all believe that you don’t belong here, and fine. I’ve seen a lot of weird things over the years so I’m not going to sit here and tell you that you’re insane.”

“But Jeffrey, you haven’t actually,”

“But what happens to your bodies after you leave?” He continued, interrupting her again, and she paused. “According to Ward, he went to bed next to his girlfriend Skye and woke up with Daisy. A different mind, a different life, within the same body. So, suffice to say, once Daisy leaves, Skye will return?”

“That’s... an apt assumption,” Dr. Simmons replied. “But you’re forgetting the crucial detail in that — ”

“That you believe this world will cease to exist once you’re all gone. Because you’ll ‘wake up’ wherever it is you’re being held, and turn off the machine that’s creating this world.”

“ _Yes_ ,” She narrowed her eyes, no doubt annoyed that he kept interrupting her. He gave her a bit of an apologetic look, and leaned back in his chair again.

“But what if you’re wrong? If you’re wrong, I need to make sure that she’s okay. That she’ll _be_  okay.”

“Daisy?” Dr. Simmons wondered. She tilted her head at him thoughtfully. “You feel like you owe her,” She realized. “You don’t. She would’ve done something crazy to save everyone, anyway. She never asks for anything in return.”

“She doesn’t know me, and she risked herself like that for me anyway.”

“She _does_  know you, Jeffrey.” Dr. Simmons replied softly.

“Right. Because I’m one of you.” He returned dryly. He shook his head. “I have no recollection of any of you. What I do have memories of? Family, here. Friends and soldiers, dying, here. Fighting against Hydra. Kids being abducted, and brainwashed.”

“Why, if you have no recollection of any of us, you’re so protective over us?” She challenged. “You trusted us fairly quickly, me — a dead woman — and Phil, a school teacher.”

“We need anyone for the cause we can get,” He argued lamely. That sounded dumb even to himself.

“You were willing to die for us back there. And you’re now willing to risk everything — possibly the entire Resistance — to barge into Hydra’s front door? For a woman you claim saved you for no logical reason? It’s because _she knows you_ , Jeffrey, and _you know her_.”

He shifted in his chair, uncomfortable with the way Dr. Simmons was looking at him. Like _he_  was the one speaking impossible things right now.

“You _saw_  what she did at that facility,” He said quietly. “Not only is she the most powerful Inhuman I’ve ever met, but she’s got a good heart. She’s exactly what the Resistance needs. Someone to look up to,”

“They have you for that.” Dr. Simmons pointed out, half in question.

“Someone _I_ can look up to, then!” He huffed, throwing his hands up. She looked surprised, and then realizing of something, and he stared at the corner of his desk, annoyed that he’d revealed this part of him. “I just... everyone looks to me for all this, trusting almost implicitly that I can help them, that I can get them out from under this tyranny. Don’t get me wrong, I will proudly be the symbol of the Resistance for as long as the people need me, but... sometimes I just need someone _I_ can look to for help. Someone I can trust to get me through it.”

She stared at him for such a long moment, he had to think back over his words. Sure, revealing that The Patriot was actually a little unsure of himself might’ve been surprising, but was it really that mind-blowing? He might’ve had super strength but he was still otherwise human.

“And you think that she can be that someone?” Dr. Simmons finally asked, and he half shrugged.

“I thought I could give her the option. ‘Course, if she goes back to being Hydra Agent Skye, will she even be the same as Daisy is? Have a change of heart, like May has?” He sighed, and rested his hand against his brow, propping his elbow onto the armrest of his chair.

He could feel her staring at him silently, and eventually he huffed defensively,

“What?”

“I’m... surprised.” Dr. Simmons admitted. “You think she’s amazing.”

“You don’t?” He lowered his hand from his face for a moment to raise his eyebrow at her.

“Of course I do, she’s my best friend. But you...” She tilted her head curiously yet again. “You used to think she was a loose cannon. A problem. Not the kind of solution SHIELD needed.”

“Is this ‘real world me’?” He asked derisively, and she nodded. “Then ‘real world me’ is an idiot.”

“The world is different, there, our problems are different.” She notably didn’t tell him that he wasn’t entirely an idiot, though. “You really don’t have any inkling about the world outside of the Framework? Nothing has reminded you, even now?”

He blinked at her, remembering the way Coulson had looked at him back in the collapsing building. There had been a moment, briefly, where he’d seen Coulson in a pristine black suit, a snarky grin on his mouth — but that had just been his imagination. A thought of a lost opportunity to have a good agent on his team. It couldn’t have been a _memory_ ; if he accepted that, then he would have to start accepting....

“How did you get your powers?” Dr. Simmons murmured, and he was startled by the direction of conversation.

“What?” He asked, and she repeated her question. He snorted. “I didn’t _get_  them. I was born an Inhuman. It’s a genetic anomaly.”

“But the gene must be switched on for powers to present themselves. Terrigenesis. When did you undergo that transformation?” She pressed, raising her eyebrow. He hesitated, and she added, “One doesn’t forget that.”

“ _I know_ ,” He replied, a bit frustrated —

— because suddenly he realized that he didn’t know.

It was more than just a foggy, unsure memory. Wracking his brain, he simply had no clue as to when his Terrigenesis had occurred. All he could remember was having his powers. His childhood memories didn’t include them, but... when he was in the military, before he officially became The Patriot, he had them then.

“I...” He hesitated. He couldn’t lie to her; he was too off-put by this.

“It’s because,” She told him carefully, “In the real world, you’re not an Inhuman. You have powers — had powers — but they were only temporary. Provided by a serum.”

“No, that’s — ”

“You wanted to be a hero so badly, you agreed to lie about what you really were. Aida used that against you, when she put you in here,”

“No, I wouldn’t do that. I would never lie like that.” He insisted firmly.

“Jeffrey.” She said calmly. She looked at him for a long moment, and started, “You...” She seemed to be trying to choose her words very carefully.

“If what you say is true then I want no part of it.” He announced, hoping to just end the conversation and get her to leave his office. He didn’t want to hear this. “I’m not going back to a world where I’m a _fraud_  — for what, the media coverage?” He scoffed.

“You mentioned about being a symbol of the Resistance here,” She interjected quickly. “You’re a symbol there, too! You aren’t a fraud because you’re a selfish asshole, Jeffrey — though I do have to say, sometimes you were kind of an asshole — but,” She hurriedly continued when he furrowed his brow, “you believe just as strongly about Inhuman rights, there, as you do here. I can assure you that.”

Jeffrey hesitated, his mind still roiling over all of this.

“So... So, say all this ‘real world’ stuff is true. How do we get Daisy to the coordinates? Antoine showed them to me on a map — it’s not exactly around the corner.”

“We can transport her,” Dr. Simmons assured. “I have medication to make her comfortable,”

“Comfortable my ass!” He exclaimed. “She’ll be in agony the whole way!”

“She understands, Jeffrey. She herself said none of this matters as soon as she’s through the door,”

“But in the meantime we knowingly let her suffer,” Jeffrey scoffed.

“She’s my best friend!” Dr. Simmons scolded him, getting to her feet and pointing a finger at him. “I’m the first one who would tell her to come up with a different plan, to find some other way! But I also know that there’s no arguing with her once she makes up her mind. And I also know that if we _don’t_  heal her, soon, she’s going to die.”

Jeffrey sat forward, ignoring the sharp pain in his side muscles.

“Getting to that medical machine at Hydra is a crapshoot.” She informed him. “We need to find Radcliffe’s coordinates. Tonight.”

 

**———**

 

While the others took over Bakshi’s newscast in effort to distract Hydra and empower the locals, Jeffrey and Dr. Simmons made preparations to transport Daisy and meet them at the coordinates. The big guy named Mack, of all people, offered to be their pilot. Since the other jet was out, Jeffrey couldn’t argue, and honestly he appreciated the assistance anyway.

He also noticed how immensely relieved Daisy and Dr. Simmons were that Mack would be accompanying them.

Jeffrey, once more fully decked out in his Patriot armor, sat with Daisy while Dr. Simmons hunted down something on wheels that they could transport her with.

“It’s not the greatest place right now, but trust me Jeff, it’s so much better than this world.” Daisy promised, in the midst of pleading with him to come with her, fully; to walk through the back door into her supposed real world.

“But I’m not The Patriot, there,” Jeffrey murmured. “That’s all I have, Daisy. The Patriot is who I am, much as I could do without such an ostentatious name. What use am I in the real world if I don’t have that strength?”

“You’re more than that strength, Jeffrey.” Daisy told him, sliding her hand over the bedsheet to rest it atop his own. “You don’t need to be The Patriot to be a hero.”

“But I _lied_ ,” He started, and she shook her head.

“There are far more government politics at play. You did what you thought was necessary. As much as the rest of us hate the song and dance, _that’s_  how you protect us. You look out for us by going into those court rooms and meeting with those heads of states, doing the work we don’t like doing — and frankly, we’re not as good at.” She snorted gently. “Particularly Coulson. God, he’s the worst at getting along with the big men in charge, and for me to say that, well, it’s something.”

Jeffrey was touched by her words, though distracted by how they needled at him.

The song and dance... why did that phrase sound so familiar in her voice?

“Trust me, please just come back with us — you’ll know immediately,”

“Yeah,” He huffed, and carefully removed his hand from beneath hers. “And I’ll remember how we hate one another, too.”

“What?” She wondered, confused by that comment.

“Dr. Simmons told me, earlier, about the real world. About how you and I don’t get along.” He met her eyes, and shook his head. “I don’t want that. We can be a great team.”

She blinked at him, her expression difficult to read.

“Jeffrey,” She eventually said, lowering her voice, and purposefully reached for his hand again. To save her from hurting herself, he had to shift back within reaching distance, allowing her to rest her palm atop the back of his knuckles. He didn’t twist his wrist to hold her hand — he was too afraid to touch her already broken bones. “Jemma doesn’t actually know that we... we kind of get along.” She half-smiled. “You and I, we’ve come to respect one another. Respect the way that we think things need to be done. We don’t always agree, but we certainly don’t hate one another.”

“Are you sure?” Jeffrey raised his eyebrow. “Because she was awfully surprised that I’m so — ” He cut himself off, feeling his cheeks warm suddenly. What was he about to say?

And why the hell was he blushing?

“That you’re so what?” Daisy wondered, raising her eyebrow curiously as well.

“Attached.” He muttered, not looking at her face. He wanted to pull his hand away, but he didn’t dare, as she still pressed a surprisingly firm pressure against his hand.

“If you come with me, I don’t... I don’t think you’ll forget what’s happened here.”

“The good, and the bad,” Jeffrey sighed. “But how do you know for sure? After all, half of us can’t remember the real world. Who’s to say the opposite won’t happen?”

“Jeff,”

“Maybe it’ll be for the better. If you’re right, all the deaths on my conscience aren’t even real to begin with.”

“Stop that.” Daisy insisted, her tone pulling his gaze back toward hers. “Stop being so — ” She stopped, and gave him an odd look.

“What?” He asked. He hadn’t said anything to interrupt her.

“Being so you,” She finished slowly. He furrowed his brow at her. “This self deprecation, this fear of not belonging — that’s not how you’ve been in the Framework! That’s you, normal you.”

“And this is a _good_  thing?” He wondered dubiously. She grinned widely at him, but then Dr. Simmons entered the room, pushing a wheelchair ahead of her.

“Finally got one! Ready to go? Your chariot awaits!” The doctor sounded oddly excited, and nervous. “Director, if you don’t mind, I think you can handle her much more gently than I could,”

“Yeah, _Director_ , handle her gently,” Daisy added wryly, and Jeffrey couldn’t help but smirk a little at that as he slipped his hand free from under hers and got to his feet.

“We need to remember to be on our guard,” He warned as he got his arms under Daisy’s shoulders and knees and then lifted her from the bed to the wheelchair. “That factory may or may not be abandoned, and if this is a place that Hydra is aware of, it’s bound to have security.”

“See, you’re talking,” Daisy grimaced as she settled into her seat. She watched with some dismay as Dr. Simmons had to strap her in securely. “You’re talking to make this all seem super casual, but you haven’t lost a breath of air and I’m not a twig.”

“Says the woman cracking jokes who as of right now can no longer walk on her own.” Jeffrey returned, still unhappy with the situation.

“Let’s get going,” Dr. Simmons advised as she wheeled Daisy toward the hallway. “We need to get out of here before...”

“Before this body gives out and I die inside of a computer.” Daisy finished, and Jeffrey pursed his lips as he stalked after them.

“I’m already not liking the idea of taking a wheelchair into a probably-Hydra-infested facility.” He muttered.

“Well what else am I going to use? You can’t carry her the _whole_  way, and anyway, this is the safest for her.” Dr. Simmons argued.

“Hey, at least I have _some_  of that bone medicine in me, right? Things are a little more connected; I just can’t feel my legs anymore.” Daisy said with brightness in her tone.

Jeffrey gave her a look, not amused by her false cheer. He was already unsettled as it was.

“She’s ready to go,” Mack announced when he met them at the lowered hatch of the jet. He eyeballed Daisy warily as Dr. Simmons wheeled her on board. “Are you sure this is the best idea...”

“It’s her last chance.” Jeffrey replied, and while Mack may not have understood what it was they were exactly doing, he would help them as best he could. Jeffrey could see it in his eyes.

As the doctor secured Daisy’s chair and then strapped herself into a seat, Jeffrey grabbed a hold of one of the steel bars overhead, choosing to stand for the trip.

He had too much energy to sit down.

This was all crazy.

 

**———**

 

It only got crazier.

Not only did they realize that the back door had been discovered by Madame Crazy Robot and was now beneath a vat of boiling melted iron, but she’d also sent Hydra agents after them. And then Radcliffe himself showed up, dragging a kicking and screaming Leopold Fitz with him.

Daisy, who’d been verbally complaining during the entire firefight that she couldn’t help out, then figured (with inadvertent help from Mack, much to his own chagrin) that she could use her powers against the vat of molten metal to “part the sea” for them.

“Are you insane?! You can’t use your powers!” Jeffrey shouted at her over sporadic gunfire, even as Dr. Simmons began to unbuckle her from the damn wheelchair.

This was a fucking comedy of horrors.

“Yes, I can,” Daisy insisted. “I haven’t lost them,”

“That’s not what I mean! The state you’re already in; it will kill you!” Jeffrey argued.

“Daisy, you can’t,” Coulson agreed with Jeffrey, and Daisy frowned at them both.

“Help me stand, dammit. I’ve got some broken vertebrae — my brain is just fine. Just help me point my hand toward the vat and I’ll do the rest.” She and Jeffrey glowered at one another until, finally, Jeffrey gave in. He propped one of her arms around his neck as he hoisted her around her waist, holding her up against his side. She still had an alright grip strength in her arms, but it wasn’t the best.

“Coulson, help,” Jeffrey requested, and Coulson was forced to, lest he let his friend tilt over sideways onto the floor.

“Move me closer,” Daisy requested, and the three of them shuffled out onto the walkway.

“I don’t like this,” Jeffrey complained, trying to keep his eyes out for more Hydra agents and also watch what Daisy was doing.

“Get ready!” Daisy called out behind them, and Jeffrey was surprised to see Radcliffe and May push a struggling Fitz ahead of them first.

“I’m sorry,” Radcliffe managed to say toward Daisy, and toward Coulson and Jeffrey as well. “I’m sorry for everything.”

“You nut!” Fitz shouted, and May hit him over the head with the butt of her gun. It half knocked him out, which succeeded in quieting his struggle.

“I figured this was the least I could do,” Radcliffe gestured his head toward Fitz, and he pressed his palm fondly against Fitz’s cheek for a moment. “This wasn’t what I wanted, Leopold. Perhaps some day you’ll forgive me. You really were like a son to me.”

May rolled her eyes, and looked at Daisy. Daisy nodded, and gritted her teeth as she focused her powers on the vat.

Jeffrey watched in amazement as the metal oozed toward the sides of the container, and some kind of odd looking gateway appeared beneath it.

“That’s amazing,” Coulson breathed, looking down. “That looks like computer code! You were really were right...”

“Hurry,” Daisy grimaced, hissing as her hand began to shake.

Without further hesitation, Radcliffe nudged Fitz over the edge, and they all watched with bated breath as he fell through and promptly disappeared.

And then the whole room shimmered. It _shimmered_ , like bad graphics in a video game.

“Sweet Saint Patrick.” Jeffrey breathed in awe.

“Does that mean...” May asked slowly, and Jeffrey felt Coulson shift forward a little.

“You were right, Daisy! I knew it! And this means we can help you — you’ll be okay,”

“I have to be last, Coulson, remember?” Daisy stopped focusing toward the vat for a moment, giving herself a break. “I need to make sure everyone else gets through, first.”

“Will you be able to hold it that long?” Coulson asked her worriedly, peering closely into her eyes.

“I’m going to have to,” She said determinedly, and Jeffrey shared a look with Coulson overtop of her head.

They both secured their grip on her, and gestured the next person onto the platform.

“Let’s go, let’s go!” Mace ordered, just as shouts drew into the room below them.

“More Hydra!” May shouted. “Everybody come on!” She and Mack began firing back, both of them stepping onto the overhanging platform as they tried to get clear shots.

Jeffrey noticed Radcliffe slowly backing away, as Dr. Simmons ducked onto the platform behind them as well.

“Daisy, open the backdoor now, do it now,” Jeffrey insisted as Radcliffe pulled hard onto a handle, releasing the contraption beneath the platform to collapse it.

All at once, they fell toward the melted iron below, and Jeffrey figured that if he died here and now, he’d already dealt with the whole ‘life flashing before the eyes’ thing the last time. Now he could spend his last seconds thinking about the people around him, and how he was rather at peace in this moment.

 

**———**

 

Jeffrey was admittedly a bit flummoxed to find himself standing in a nondescript motel room, with Daisy, in the middle of the day. He was having a hard time wrapping his mind around everything that had happened since they’d woken up from the Framework — and now they were all on the run, enemies of the state.

He was new at this — but he also wasn’t.

Being on the run from the government here was just eerily similar enough to his life in the Framework, and he knew he was moping, but he couldn’t help it. Daisy had been right, in that he still remembered everything he experienced while in the Framework, but it didn’t matter, because he also knew it hadn’t been real.

His suspicion of her, his distrust of her; the way he’d wanted to lock her up along with Robbie Reyes — all of that had been real. Daisy’s own distrust of him was real.

And yet she was standing here reminding him about other moments that had been real, too.

“If there’s one thing the Framework taught me, about the _real you_ , it’s that you aren’t in this for the glory,” Daisy murmured. “You seek out justice in any way that you can, regardless of the consequences. Regardless of the politics you have to play — you keep your eyes on the end result. On bettering life for the Inhumans. In that world, it was using your powers, but in this one, it’s using the other stuff you’ve got. Your connections, your charm, your damn inspirational quotes — you have a way of pulling a team together.”

“Don’t think I don’t recognize some of your words, Daisy Johnson,” Jeffrey gently teased, though he was smiling widely, touched. “Using my own speech against me.”

She carefully touched the healing cut on his brow, and his eyes softened.

“It’s stupid not to accept your own limitations,” She said of his injuries at the hands of the Watchdogs, “but... I do admire your heart.” His smile widened even further at that. “When I first met you, I saw you as the epitome of everything I’d hated about SHIELD when I was young. I thought you were in it for your own gain, that you were blind to all the real problems the Inhumans are dealing with around us — but that’s not true at all. You aren’t a government pawn at all — you’re just making them _think_  that you are, so you can spark some change from the inside out.” She smiled a little, tiredly. “You’re strong in a different way, Mace.”

Her gaze was admiring, even fond, which warmed his heart. Then she stretched forward and kissed his cheek, soft and lingering in a way that filled him with a thing he was afraid to name... but a thing that felt a lot like hope.

After looking at her for a long moment, though, his gaze darkened and he frowned a little. He desperately wanted to tell her how amazing he found her, how their experiences in the Framework had changed the way he looked at the world, but he was struggling to part the differences. He was distracted by worry for her that didn’t truly need to exist within him in the first place.

“I’m having trouble not seeing you... broken.” He admitted, picturing how he had found her next to him in that crater in the ground. “Every time I’ve tried closing my eyes since we’ve been back, I wonder if I’m really here. If any of you are going to remember me the next time we look at each other. If I’m going to remember you.”

Daisy considered for a long moment.

“Would it help, if I were here when you woke up?” She asked, and he stared at her, startled.

“What?”

“So there would be no time at all, for that doubt. You see me, and I see you, and we know that we remember one another. And that this world is real.”

“I mean, technically, the Framework could make us — ”

“Jeff. Would it help you sleep better knowing that I’ll be right here when you wake up?” She pressed, not taking any of his sass.

He shifted his feet, embarrassed, but nodded.

“Good.” She smiled almost determinedly. “Because that’ll help me, too.”

Whether she was just saying that to make him feel less embarrassed, or she truly meant that, it still worked. He wanted to be strong and supportive as he’d been in the Framework, but he was simply too exhausted.

“C’mon, I was going to take a nap anyway, and you certainly look like you need one.” She gestured him toward one of the beds in the room, as she sat down on the edge of the other one.

He slid beneath his covers without debate, deeply relieved by their little plan. He could play the song and dance tomorrow. Today, he just needed to be himself... be himself in the presence of someone who was okay with that.

Daisy curled on her side so that they were facing one another, the space between their beds not so large that he didn’t feel her presence. She still seemed wide awake, though, even as his eyelids were already drooping.

They needed to figure out what to do about what had happened in the real world since they’d been gone — particularly, him — but a short nap wouldn’t hurt. They would need their strength...

...

He gasped wide-awake immediately, lying on his back now. He jerked his head to the side, not quite recognizing where he was for a moment, but was immediately relieved to see Daisy looking back at him.

“Daisy?” He questioned, disoriented from his dream.

“It’s only been about thirty minutes, Jeff. Go back to sleep.” She soothed. He could tell that she hadn’t actually slept yet.

“You should sleep, too.” He pointed out. “Oh, I wasn’t shouting, was I?”

“No,” She promised him, sitting up. “You only gasped a couple of times just before you woke yourself up.” She didn’t ask him what he’d been dreaming about, but he knew that she probably knew well; after all, they’d both almost been crushed to death in that computer world.

She blinked at him for another moment, and then she slipped out of her bed, stepping closer to his. She reached for the cover and he didn’t know if she wanted to tuck him in or what, but he grabbed at it first, and folded it down, scooting back to give her room on the mattress. She paused with her hand in the air, but then smiled carefully and slipped in beneath the covers. She shifted until her back was pressed against his chest, and she held onto his hand after he settled the sheets over her shoulder.

He wasn’t relaxed, he knew it; they’d barely shaken hands before this and now she was letting him hold her like this? Sure, they were both still fully dressed sans shoes, but, so much of him was touching so much of her. He was overwhelmed.

“Breathe,” She murmured, feeling how tense he was. “It’s okay.” She tugged his arm around her more fully, urging him even closer, relaxing back against him completely. He gingerly nuzzled his nose against her hair, and when she didn’t move, he finally settled. “Don’t worry, I’ve set an alarm so we don’t miss pie.”

He smiled, looking forward to a calm moment with the team. For now, though, he would take a calm moment with just Daisy. He carded his fingers between hers, holding on tightly even as he finally fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

 


End file.
